Broken Arrow
by JacklyinKarst
Summary: When Artemis has a horrible day can the arrow clan make her feel better about her place on the team? Two shot. My first fic so please read and review! Spitfire and some Longshot if you squint plus a tad of Supermartian
1. Chapter 1

**A/n so this takes place way back in the beginning of season one! Enjoy!**

Artemis flopped onto her bed with a tired sigh and began to cry. She let her long troubles of the day leak from her eyes as her body shakes uncontrollably. Her day hadn't started in a way that would have predicted this outcome, it had been fairly normal. Even a bit better than normal. For once her alarm clock had been successful in rousing her on time, and her breakfast hadn't been burnt to an unfavourable black colour. The bus had come on time and school hadn't been one long dull stressful blur. But that's when things turned south. After changing and zeta beaming into Star city, an unusual amount of crime had ran her ragged, stopping muggings, attempted murders and robberies. Then Red Arrow showed up during a robbery, not to help but to abolish her for not being faster. Jerk. She didn't see him stopping the would be robbers either. So after her patrol ended she headed back to the cave for training.

"Oh wonderful. The thing from the black lagoon is here." Wally sneered before flashing M'gann a sleazy little grin. Artemis rolled her eyes and went to grab a drink before training. The others joined her in the kitchen and living room, either choosing to get a snack or settle down in front of the static channel. Wally was boring M'gann with a blown out of proportion story about his latest escapade with his mentor. "... and then using the last of my strength I managed to save the little girl from Mirror Master!"

"Wow that's great Wally." M'gann said never taking her eyes off her boyfriend. Artemis scoffed quietly at the speedster failed attempts to impress the martian. It's fairly obvious she wasn't interested in the red-head. Artemis glared as Wally started on a new story of his epic heroics while M'gann stirred a bowl of batter. Why couldn't he just move on and take a look at the other fish in the cave... take a look at her... was he really that blind to the meaning behind their arguments...

"What are you staring at Blondie?" Wally's suddenly sharp voice had driven her out of her silent longings. She hadn't realized she was staring at his abs so she snapped her head up to look him in the eyes.

"None of your business Baywatch." Now it was his turn to scoff and roll his eyes. Sometimes she wished she could just be honest and outright ask him out, but her pounding fear of rejection and abandonment left her feet colder than her ex-boyfriend. So she continued to banter with him praying one day he'd catch on. Today however did not seem to be the case.

"Don't you know it's rude to stare? Oh wait I forgot you were raised by wolves so you wouldn't know," His words were closer to the truth than she'd like to have admitted. "Why are you still even here replacement? Roy said he might drop by today so we don't need you." Miss Martian, Robin, Kaldur and Connor gave him an icy look, but Artemis found she couldn't keep eye contact.

"Whatever Baywatch..." she mumbled and wandered into the training room. Training was hard. SHe felt weighed down by her emotional turmoil, which was not lightened by Red Arrow's arrival just as Aqualad threw her into the floor didn't help. Nor did the triumphant smirk Kid Flash wore when she glanced over at him. Sighing, Black Canary dismissed them with the excuse of Roy being to distracting for further training. With a final glare for the red archer she took her leave. The team gathered around him while Artemis stalked off to take a long hot shower. When she finished, she walked into the living room to find everyone howling with laughter. Even Connor was quietly chuckling in the corner. SHe blinked a few times feeling rather pushed out. Finally Wally wiped the tears out of his eyes and noticed her presence.

"You see replacement, this is why everyone prefers Red Arrow to you! He doesn't bring us all down. So why don't you go make us some snacks, if you can even handle that!" Artemis felt rage and sadness and her heart breaking all at once. They swirled around her stomach sickeningly and made her want to puke. Without a word,(she didn't trust her voice not to betray her) she spun on her heel and nearly sprinted to the teleporters, not hearing M'gann and RObin calling her name or Kaldur and even Roy call Wally out on the harshness of his words. She simply ran and put in the co-ordinates for Gotham. The bright light encased her and hid the tears poring from her eyes.

When the whirring of the zeta tube faded away into the sound of Gotham, Artemis tried to get traught as Robin had put it and get control over herself. Finally after walking around a deserted park the flood gates finally closed. She breathed in heavily and checked her watch. Seven Fifteen. The night was painfully young. Not particularly wanting to return to her empty apartment, (her mother had passed away from a heart attack) she wandered out into the city. Not really paying attention to where she was going, she walked into the nicer area of Gotham close to where her school was. She was so caught up in thinking about Wally, Roy, the team and her hero career, she didn't notice a group of teenagers follow her into an alley.

"Well if it isn't the North trash? What it isn't enough sullying our neighbourhood in the day? Now your bringing your stench in at night?" Tyler, a football jock from Gotham academy laughed along with his neanderthals buddies. the formed a threatening semi-circle around her.

"Go to hell." Artemis muttered under her breath too quietly for them to make out what she said. She kept her eyes downcast, the fight with Wally taking all the will to fight out of her.

"What did you say to me bitch? Methinks you need a lesson on respecting your betters! What do you say boys?" The others grinned and nodded in agreement and began closing ranks. Artemis almost laughed at the irony in this. Usually people were afraid that they would get mugged by people from north-end Gotham. WHen the first punch was swung Artemis dodged but Wally's voice rang through her ears telling her she wasn't wanted anywhere. When a foot came up she didn't move to avoid it and let her body go slack. For fifteen minutes she let them go at her, calling her horrible and filthy things all the while. Finally they got bored at the lack of a reaction and walk away laughing loudly. Artemis allowed herself two minutes to lay there before dragging her self home.

She cried for hours, letting the tears soak her hair and pillow. Finally she fell asleep letting the nightmares plague her slumber. That morning, her alarm did fail in waking her and she slept past four not having th strength to get out of bed.

Meanwhile back at the cave, Artemis had just left the closest to tears anyone had ever seen her. "Yeesh what's eating her?" Connor swung to face Wally with a livid expression on his face. His blue eyes were wide with incredulity and anger. He opened his mouth to yell at the speedster but someone beat him to it.

"Seriously dude? That was cold, harsh and mean. I have my issues with her but that was uncalled for." NOw it was Wally's turn to look incredulous.

"DUDE? Don't tell me your taking her side? She's your replacement!" Roy rolled his eyes and glared at Wally.

"That is not true and does not mean you can treat her like she is dirt." Kaldur's voice was very stern and bordered on angry. He knew that there were some Atlanteans who believed they were above others simply because of how they looked. Wally's treatment of Artemis closely mirrored the actions of the Atlantean purists.

"Oh come on. It's not like the Harpy has feelings!" Wally joked trying to lighten the mood, but was met by furious glares. Robin reappeared without the others even realising he was gone.

"I couldn't catch her. Girl can move fast when she wants to. Nice going Kid Idiot." He too glared at the offending red-head.

"Fine I'll apologize, is that what you want?" Wally could see he wasn't going to be let off the hook for this one. the rest of the team nodded and walked away leaving the speedster alone. 'I'll do it tomorrow. Let her blow off some of her anger' he thought. He hadn't really wanted to upset her that much, but it was too late now so he simply settled down on the couch.

The next evening...

"Robin have you seen Arty?" M'gann flew toward the Boy Wonder with worry plastered all over her face.

"Uh no... has she not come in yet? Training should be starting soon..."

"I know that's why I'm worried!" Robbin nodded. Artemis never missed training unless she was hurt...

"you don't think that shes hurt do you?" M'gann hadn't read Robin's mind but was thinking the same thing. Robin looked grim and looked at her. In fact he did believe that. If she wasn't hurt physically she was defiantly mentally wounded. 'This is not a good sign.' Robin though glancing at the worried alien.

"I'm sure she's fine sugar. probably just blowing off steam on patrol." The speedster said racing for the fridge. Robin rolled his eyes and finding he couldn't look at his best friend, he turned on his heel and walked out, M'gann following suit.

But Artemis was hurt. Worse then she had originally figured. Besides the massive amount of bruising she had received, it hurt to breathe, and her left leg wouldn't support her weight. Her head pounded like someone was using a rather large mallet to drive her head into her neck. Trying not to move too much, Artemis groped around for her cell phone that lay on her bedside table a few inches from her hand. Weakly she tried to pull the small device toward her, but a flaming pain shot up her arm and into her shoulder. She struggled for a few more seconds before relenting to the pain. Biting her lip against the tears in her eyes, she tried again, this time with more success. She flipped it open and hit the speed dial button for Green Arrow. After two rings he picked up.

"Hey kiddo! WHere have you been? Everyone's been worried about you..."

"Ollie... help..." Her voice was so weak and pained it broke his heart. Without missing a beat he rushed the nearest zeta tube while promising Artemis everything would be all right. It took five minutes for Olliver to get to Artemis' apartment, and two to break down the locked door that separated him from his 'niece.' When she saw her, he knelt down beside her, and stroked back her tangled blonde hair. Silently tears streamed down her face.

"Shhhhhhh, it's ok shhhhhhh I'm here now. Shhhhhhhhh." After comforting her to a point in which he could understand her and phoning for an ambulance, he gently picked her up trying not to jostle any visibly sore spots. He was in the hall when he almost collided with a tall well built red-haired archer.

"Roy? What are you...?"

Roy's faced turned a light shade of pink. "I kinda felt a bit... responsible for what Wally said and came to make sure she was ok..." Ollie motioned for the other teenager to follow him as he carried the blonde to the waiting ambulance where a paramedic took her from him.

"What do mean responsible for what West said?" Oliver had a sneaking suspicion about where this was about to head but decided to give the kid the benifit of the doubt... for now.

"He ummm sort of... well he kind of..." Roy mumbled shifting awkwardly.

"Just spit it out already!" Green Arrow exclaimed losing patiance.

"Fine, he said that all she was good for was making food and she didn't need to be there since she was just my replacement..." Roy felt a bit sick saying that. The fact that he had been slightly unfairly giving her a hard time about a difficult shot she was close to making made him feel even worse. He kept his eyes downcast not meeting the emerald archer's narrowed gaze.

"Come. With. Me." Ollie growled menacingly, getting into the ambulance that was taking Artemis to the hospital. It was a quiet ride with the only conversation being a call from Olliver to Batman to inform him of the archer's condition. When they finally got to the emergency room and the paramedic's had wheeled Artemis into an x-ray room, Olliver faced his adopted son.

"Start from the beginning. And don't leave anything out." So Roy told him what he knew, which was only that Wally had been harping on the blonde archer for 'driving me off the team'. Olliver's eyes were no more then slits when the doctor approached them.

"Hello, I'm told your the guardian of Miss. Crock?" With a nod the doctor continued. "My name is Dr. Hannal. I have some good news and some bad news." The doctor ignored the sarcastic comment Roy made about clichés. "The bad news is that Miss Crock has extensive bruising on the majority of her body, a mild concussion, two crack ribs, one nearly punctured her lung and a broken leg as well as a badly sprained wrist and dislocated shoulder. The good news is recovery can be from home and shouldn't take longer than a month at most." Olliver nodded and thanked the doctor before walking into Artemis' room closely followed by Roy. He sat in the edge of her bed while a nurse finished wrapping her wrist in a sling. When the nurse left, he regarded her for a few moments before pulling her closely into a hug. A few tears that she hadn't all ready shed rolled onto his back.

"Thank you." she whispered. He pulled back and smiled sadly at her. "The doc says if I didn't get attention as soon as I did I would have punctured my lung and possibly suffocated."

"Artemis, who did this?" his face was hard and determined. She glanced at Roy who wore a similar expression. One that was difficult to wear for someone you didn't care about. Because deep down, he did care. It wasn't her fault he'd quit and Ollie wanted a new partner. And she was a good person lying aside.

"Just some kids from school... it's not a big deal..." As soon as she said it she regretted it. Olliver growled and Roy looked... guilty? Olliver opened his mouth to say something but was cut off.

"No. It does matter. The Artemis I know could have taken a bunch a high school punks easy even unarmed. But you let them beat the snot out of you." Artemis glared at the shiny tiles on the ground. "Why? Because if it's because of what Kid Flash said your not the person I thought you were." Artemis looked at him with a defiant, and frankly terrifying glare, that he met with an even stare. He hadn't said it with any hostility or even condescension but with a little bit of... hurt? Man he was throwing her all sorts of curve balls tonight.

"What's it to you _Speedy?_" She sneered the word like it left her with a foul taste in her mouth. To her surprise both archers smiled.

"Phew. For a moment I was worried you'd lost that spitfire personality we've all come to know and love!" Wait what? they _liked her personality?_ The same one Baywatch kept beating on with a pointy stick? She looked back and forth between the smiling relief on her visitors faces.

"What? Since when do you like me?" Ollie grinned and stood up.

"I think I'll give you two a moment. Call me if you need anything." And with a wink he gently closed the door behind him.

"Start talking. I thought I was evil incarnate, and a harpy, and annoying, and a replacement, and a lousy archer, and dangerous and-" Red held up his hand to silence her.

"Did you ever think that I said that stuff to keep you on your toes? Or to make you try harder and not get yourself hurt?" Artemis gingerly crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. "Or maybe just out of a smidgen of jealousy?" Artemis smirked a bit at that. "And did you think that maybe Wally said that stuff as an expression of his true feelings?"Her heart put itself back together a bit and the monitor she was attached to sped up ever so slightly.

In her moment of vulnerability she looked up at Roy imploringly. "Really? So you guys don't wish I'd just leave you and the team and Ollie alone?" Red dropped his smirk and looked at her seriously.

"Never." They smiled at each other, a new understanding between them. Ollie came back in with some smuggled coffee and they talked for a while, some things serious, like what they were going to do about the boys who had assaulted her in the first place. But other things were ridiculous like the birthday party the Justice League had thrown for Batman. Around ten thirty Artemis tried to stifle her fifth yawn and Olliver insisted she get some rest. They would be moving her into the Queen mansion for her recovery period, since Batman (and secretly Artemis) didn't want her staying alone. As she drifted off to sleep, Ollie planted a kiss on her forehead and slipped silently from the room.

Meanwhile back at the cave...

Miss Martian and Robin had just left Kid Flash alone in the kitchen when Batman called the team to the briefing room. Everyone arrived entering from all different directions. Kid Flash, despite being the fastest arrived last a freshly made sandwich in his hand.

"Do you have a mission for us?" he asked looking expectantly and taking a big bite of the sandwich. Batman shook his head and looked at each of the teenagers.

"I am here to inform you that Artemis has been hospitalized after she phoned Green Arrow requesting assistance." Wally choked on his sandwich, Kaldur creased his forehead in worry, Connor clenched his fists and Robin and M'gann exchanged a dark look.

"Is she ok? What happened to her? What hospital is she at?" Wally felt his stomach plummet. She didn't do something stupid did she? He wasn't serious when she said she should leave, he was just... playing around. If she was hurt because of him...

"She is stable and is with both Green Arrow and Red Arrow. It appears she was assaulted by several classmates who-"

"Teenagers did this? Why didn't she fight back or something? I know she was in civvies but she should have been able to defend herself or something!" Batman shot him a cold look that clearly said 'You really don't know?' The rest of the team mirrored the look.

"She has extensive bruising, a sprained wrist, dislocated shoulder, two cracked ribs and a nearly punctured lung but will make a full and speedy recovery at her uncles house. You will be allowed to visit her there." And with one final look at each of the kids Batman headed for the zeta beams, undoubtably to track down the punks who did this.

"I never meant... She didn't really think I was serious..." the teams faces softened (except for Superboy. He was still fairly livid.) Robin laid a hand on his best friends shoulder in comfort. Connor pulled M'gann into a comforting hug trying to dispel her fears.

"We will visit her first thing in the morning. For now everyone get some rest." Kaldur ordered before walking toward the pool to think. everyone else slowly dispersed untill Wally was left alone in the kitchen where he finally fell asleep. He was woken several hours later to an angry voice shouting his name.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU WEST? GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE!" Wally shook the sleep out of his head as looked around for the source of the angry shouts. Finally an enraged Olliver Queen stormed into the room. Wally took a step back.

"Hey what's up GA? Is there something wro- EEPS!" an arrow pinned his collar to the wall. "Yo! What was that for?" he asked a bit indignantly. That was apparently the wrong tone of voice to be using. Green Arrow snarled and notched another arrow.

"You little twerp. You should know bloody well what that was for and be begging me not to beat the crap out of you." he said in a low menacing voice. "Where the hell do you come off telling her she doesn't belong on this team and that she's just Roy's replacement? You have no freaking clue what she's been through! Well? ANSWER ME!" Wally tried to shrink away from the furious man. He looked like he wouldn't mind ripping him a new one.

" I-I-I don't know, I just missed Roy is all! I didn't actually mean it!" His strangled cries drew the others and Batman.

"Olliver let him go. Now." Batman commanded and grudgingly Olliver complied. Wally breathed again and scooted away from the archer who hadn't put away his weapons. "we will leave for the hospital shortly. Everyone be ready in twenty minutes." With one last furious glare, Olliver stalked off toward the training room and the others went to change. Twenty five minutes later the team was crowed around Artemis' door waiting to be let in.

"I don't want anymore then two people in at a time so only one of you can go in right now alright?" The nurse glared at them mistrusting. The kids nodded and M'gann went in. The sight she was greeted with was an odd one. Both Red Arrow and Artemis' was laughing aloud at something. When Artemis noticed her presence she smiled and patted the bed beside her. Red stood up and left to give them a minute to themselves.

"Oh Artemis!" cried the green girl hugging her earth-sister. "I was so worried! We all were! Don't ever do something like that again!" Artemis looked a bit guilty at that.

"I'm sorry M'gann, I guess I was just feeling a bit unwanted..." she avoided the Martians stern gaze.

"Don't you know that your my earth-sister and I wouldn't trade you for all of Mars?" Both girls smiled and hugged again, being careful of Artemis' sore ribs. After a few more minutes of senseless chatter, M'gann left to let in Connor and Kaldur. Both expressed their worry and gladness for her safety. She in turn assured them she would never do something like that again. Then Robin popped in and the two made jokes about his decimation of the english language. Finally it was Wally's turn.

"Hey."

"Hey... So feeling alright?"

"Well you know, I'll be better after I shoot a target or two."

"That's good."

"Yeah."

"So..."

"So?"

"Well ummm..."

"I swear if you don't use a sentence with more then ten words I will smack you so hard!"

"Ok, ok no need to get violent! Listen about what I said... I was totally out of place and stupid and mean and well... lying." She felt her heat start beating faster, and her palms start to sweat. "Your not a replacement, your an amazing archer and a great person. I should have never called you those things and I'm sorry." He had been looking at the floor up till now. Now he was staring deeply into her stormy gray eyes. She found herself lost in his deep green.

"So we good?"

"Yeah we are Baywatch." They both smiled at each other a new understanding between them. Maybe now things would finally get better.


	2. Chapter 2

The day that Artemis was released from the medical ward was a Friday night. So over the weekend, Batman and Aqualad decided that team bonding would be an appropriate course of action. Which meant everyone was sleeping over at the cave. Robin had somehow gotten his ninja hands on her new schedule and homework assignments that she had missed. Everyone else had their own homework to finish, so the first part of the evening was spent in the living room pencils scratching away at paper. Not really wanting to spend the entire evening doing school work, everyone worked together to get all different subjects finished. Artemis was fluent in both French and Vitminese, Robin was unsurprisingly a genius at math, Wally was the science prodigy, Connor had the history of the world implanted in his mind and Kaldur had near perfect english. The homework was finished in record time, and the team fell asleep together in front of the tv, a Disney movie marathon still playing.

The next day, the team invited Roy and Zatanna to a picnic on the beach. Even Roy had a good time, though he pretended to scowl. M'gann had made a spectacular feast and Kaldur taught them all the names of the sea creatures living around the mountain. Sunday was calmer with everyone either just lounging around, secretly making out or hacking into secret files. Guess who was doing what. Artemis was in the kitchen looking around for a snack when he came in. Wally was wearing a Flash t-shirt and sweatpants. His hair was messed up and his eyes were still bleary.

"Afternoon, Kid exhaustion." she handed him a glass of milk that he downed in one gulp. She made a bit of a disgusted face and grabbed the waffles that popped out from the toaster. "I think I know the answer, but do you want some lunch?" She sighed as his head snapped up at the word lunch.

"You know I do Blondie!" Artemis noticed there was no hostility today when he spoke. It was a nice feeling so she started to make five sandwiches while taking a bite of her waffles. When they were finished Wally thanked her and they ate in silence for a while. It wasn't an awkward one, they were just too busy putting food in their mouths to talk. She finished and put her plate in the dish washer. She went to leave for the training room, when Wally grabbed her hand. "Wait... I just wanted to say, I'm sorry, again."

"Wally, I told you! It's fine! I was probably just pmsing or something like that! If you bring it up again I'm going to have to hit you. Hard." She gave him her 'I am dead serious look'.

"Nice to have you back Harpy!" he winked and sped off toward the tv. Artemis just smiled. It was good to be back.

* * *

Monday came all too soon and Artemis' alarm clock was once again dragging her from her peaceful dream involving friends, family and a certain speedster. She gently disentangled herself from the bed sheets and tentatively placed a hand to her ribs. The bruising had already gone down significantly, but the doctor had told her that her rib were still tender and too much aggravation to her lungs wouldn't end well. Mildly she probed each injured rib and bruise. They were still fairly sore, but she had discovered he could perform to almost the best of her abilities minus her endurance and anything twisty. Still she cursed herself for letting her emotions dictate her actions. Damn hormones. Pulling her mane into it's normal position, she slipped into her Gotham Academy uniform and put some toast in the toaster. I came out a little but too charred for her liking, but it was edible and tasted fine with some butter and jam. At seven fifteen, she kissed her mother goodbye and headed to her bus stop. It had been the same driver for years now, so Artemis had a more personal relationship with her.

"How you been Arty?" Melinda the driver asked.

"Fine! How bout you? Your arthritis any better?" Melinda smiled and nodded before refusing to take Artemis' money. Artemis moved to the back of the bus and sat down on one of the few seats without chewing gum stuck to it. It was only then that it occurred to her that she was heading to the same school that Tyler and the rest of his meat-headed friends attended and beat her up for going to. Groaning she buried her head into her bag and remaining like that untill her stop. She got off and the bus pulled away leaving a cloud of dust. Glancing around like a hunted animal, Artemis scanned for danger. Seeing nothing as obvious as football players, she moved as fast as she could without bothering her lungs toward the main building. About halfway there, a stray foot stuck out and sent her hurtling toward the ground. Thankfully on instinct, she had pulled her bag between her ribs and the ground. Laughter ranging from snickers to Joker like cackling rang out across the courtyard. Feeling her face grow slightly hot, she tried to pull herself up only to be stopped by her ribs screaming at her. All of a sudden there was a pale white hand attached to the arm of a dark haired boy in front of her face. Shelving what pride she had left, she accepted the smaller boy's assistance with only a glare.

"Uh thanks I guess..." she mumbled still glaring.

"No problem! I'm Dick Grayson!" the boy chirped flashing her an adorable grin that was hard to glare at.

"Artemis... and your that kid from my first day!" she realized. Dick's grin turned cocky.

"Guilty as charged. So know where your new classes are yet?" The school was fairly large and had three different buildings to navigate.

"No, I've been out a week and only just got here." she muttered feeling a bit irate. As she went to brush past the kid, he linked arms with her swinging her toward the other building.

"Actually your first class is this way." Ok so now this peppy kid has turned into a creepy stalker kid... why is that familiar?

"Uh how exactly do you know that? And let go of my arm!" Artemis extracted her arm from his grasp and looked at him skeptically with her hands on her hips.

"Ahhh, because I noticed during roll call your name was on it. I have most classes with you so I also picked up your homework for you! Did you get it?"

"Um yeah... so why are you in a grade ten AP science course when you're like two?" The kid's answer made some sense but she was still suspicious.

"That's what happens when you're as brilliant and charismatic as me!"

"Kinda full of yourself for being a half pint don't you think?"

"I'll have you know I am a perfectly normal height for a boy my age. In fact, I'll bet in five years I'll be taller then you in five years!"

"Ha! Yeah and me and Kid Flash will be dating by that time too!" Dick laughed and Artemis found herself joining him. It was nice to have a friend at this school. No one ever talked to her outside of class. The pair continued into the chem room and sat down together. They were the only two in there because the bell wasn't going to ring for another ten minutes. They kept talking, and were so engrossed in their debate over the better super heroe, Batman or Green Arrow, that they didn't even notice that the rest of the class had come in and sat down.

"AWW look guys, freshie's finally found someone who'll sit with them. Charity case and North trash, what a pair." Tyler was leering over them like a storm cloud, a malicious grin on his face. Artemis shot him an evil glare but Dick smiled pleasantly.

"Actually we were just wondering how a football player got into this class. I was under the impression that you had to have an IQ above seven to be in an AP science class."

'Oh snap! Dang this kid is good!" Artemis thought, laughing aloud with the rest of the class. Dick leaned back and out his hands behind his head to accepted the laughing praise. When Tyler tried to hit the smaller boy, Artemis found herself gaining respect for the kid, who easily ducked and swerved to the other side of him. "Not much with the verbal comebacks huh? They do require some type of brains." Dick smirked and jumped out of the way of another punch. Just then the teacher walked in and everyone leapt to their seats. He took the roll and began the class while Tyler and his friends glared at the still snickering partners ahead of them.

* * *

The rest of the week passed by quickly and without incident. Thanks to the homework Dick had dropped off at her mother's and Robin had brought to her, she found she understood everything and wasn't floundering in her work as she had feared. It turned out that Dick had five out of six classes with her: AP science, AP math, AP history, AP French and Drama. He was pushed ahead in all his subjects and options were split between all the grade to 'promote school wide friendships and tolerance.' Gym was the only class that they didn't share. Things at the Cave were going great. WHile Canary refused to allow Artemis to spar with the others, she was allowed to do some target practise beside them. Once she even tried to hit her friends while they dodged the rapidly flying arrows. The only thing that worried her was Tyler. All week he had been making threats against her and her new found half pint. SHe wasn't worried for herself, but Dick was half Tyler's size height and a third his muscle mass. There was no way he could defend himself if Tyler and his friends decided to gang up on him. But Dick had waved off her worries saying that Tyler was making empty threats and was all bark no bite unless he had the entire football team behind him. He seemed confident, so she had let the matter drop. He had yet to do anything more then make the first and second cuts to the new football team anyways. On Friday that changed. It was AP science when it began. Dick had gone to get something from his locker and Tyler and friends had gone to the 'bathroom.' Artemis didn't think anything of it and just plugged in her iPod and continued working. A quarter of an hour later, Tyler still hadn't returned and Artemis felt her phone buzz.

From: Dick

Message: Help! Jocks cornered me in West Gym! Pls hurry!

Artemis read the text quickly. She knew Dick cut through the smaller gym to cut time off the commute to their lockers. She tried not to look desperate as the teacher slowly pulled out the bathroom pass. As she rushed toward the gym, she felt her lungs burn slightly. Her injuries had healed for the most part, but her lung was still bothering her. She figured taking a hit to her chest would probably take her out pretty quickly. But theoretically she should be able to take out Tyler and his usual five goons that hung around him perpetually. SHe rounded the corner and slipped into the dark gym, listening for the sounds of flesh being pummeled. She heard nothing untill her phone buzzed again.

From: Dick

Message: Gotcha ya! :)

The lights suddenly came to life and lit up the gym. There wasn't the usual four or five guys hanging around the football captain this time. This time there was at least twenty five well built guys. Probably the entire football team.

"Welcome to initiation boys. To be officially welcomed back or to the team you have one simple task. Convince North Trash here that Gotham Academy is not for filth like her." Artemis starred flabbergasted at Tyler. He was holding up Dick's phone aimlessly fiddling with the buttons. She desperately wanted to wiped the smug look off his face, but the others had formed a tight circle around her. "What? No clever comment? No half assed taunt? Guess you're wishing the freshie was trapped inside a locker huh? At least he tried to say something smart. Too bad he was out before he could finish." Poor Dick. She'd have to find him after she got out of this. The only thing was _getting herself out of this mess first._ She shoved her hands into the pockets of her sweater and started to blindly text. Maybe fighting wasn't the direct answer here. Maybe it was time zones.

"Hold up. You want me to make fun of you in front of all these guys? Really? Ok then... Your ugly, stupid and really Tyler? Those shoes with that shirt? Does your mother tell you what to where?" I just need to buy some time, Artemis thought, staring at Tyler and ignoring the rest of the jocks moving toward her. Tyler growled and drew his finger across his throat. Now the mob was moving faster toward her. Hands still in her pockets, she typed one last message. Dick's phone buzzed loudly and Green Arrow's self created theme music blared through the phone's speakers. (From JLA Unlimited) seizing the moment of confusion, she used Tyler as a vault to throw herself over top the horde and land outside the circle. unfortunately she had landed as far away from the door as possible.

"Why you little!" Artemis had put her knee into his face and his nose was now pumping blood. "You are so dead! Don't just stand there! Go to plan B!" The rest of them moved toward her again, this time pulling out brass knuckles and what looked like metal rods. And here she was in a skirt. This will not end well... Just before they reached her though, there was a rush of cool air and a ginger wearing a blue shirt and jeans appeared in the door way arms folded over his chest. Then robin walked in, wearing his civvies and dark glasses. He was followed by Kaldur, who was wearing a turtle neck to cover his gills and Roy who looked fairly weird in casual clothes. Then M'gann and Conner entered behind them still wearing their school clothes.

"Got your message Arty! Is it too late to join the party?" Robin cackled staring down the now nervous wanna be football players.

"Is there a problem here buddy?" Roy growled menacingly. Some of the freshman took a step back and glanced between the door and Tyler. Artemis couldn't help but smirk.

"None you your business, soulless. Now get lost so me and North trash can continue our 'discussion.'" Tyler tried to take a threatening step toward Wally, but the red head only raised an eyebrow. Calender man was more threatening then this kid.

"We'll just go then... Come on Artemis! Rob promised to buy us sodas!" M'gann smiled and motion for Artemis to follow, but one of Tyler's friends hit her in the top of her stomach, making the air rush out of her. The smirks fell off the team's face. Conner nearly hit the wall.

"I'm not done with you yet North Trash. You and Grayson are gonna pay. Nobody makes fun of me!"

"Yeah so what have we been doing all week? Complimenting you? And Dick thought you had at least a little bit of brains." The sarcasm rolled off her tounge so thick you could slice it with a knife. Tyler glared and moved to strike her, but all of a sudden Wally was blocking his path.

"Out of my way freak!" He went to hit Wally, so Wally did a pre-emptive strike and kicked him in the shins.

"That is no way to treat a beautiful lady. Now apologize." Instead, Tyler growled and pointed to the team before re drawing his finger across his neck.

"It looks like they all need a lesson on respecting their betters. Get them!" He roared catching Wally off guard and punching him in the mouth. The rest of the football team moved towards the incognito heroes still brandishing their weapons. Connor just grinned.

"Finally!" Suffice to say they didn't last long. Using far less force and no super powers, the fight went quickly. Let's face it: Artemis could have taken them all out by herself if she was performing at her best. Robin swerved and flipped around the sloppy punches, Kaldur and Roy calmly knocked the linebackers into one another and Connor went crazy scary rage, scaring them more then he was hurting them. M'gann however, used her psychic powers to make the younger boys leave the gym. She knew they just wanted to fit in and be accepted. Finally it was down to Tyler and Artemis. She had relieved Wally of the fight and now he was causally leaning against the wall, smirking in anticipation.

"You bitch. You just had to call in your freak friends and ruin their initation! Why do they hang out with you anyways, are they loners at their schools too? Their just as pathetic as you!"

"Seriously? There's just so many things wrong with that statement!" By now the others had gathered near Wally and were all watching with the same expression on their face. Robin was even recording the fight on 'Dick's' newly recovered phone. Tyler threw a punch that Artemis blocked then returned. "Firstly, you're the one who couldn't carry out you stupid threats without the entire football team behind you." Tyler tried to throw her to the ground by grabbing her pony tail, but she whipped him with it then hit him the the stomach. "Second, they didn't ruin your horrible initiation, you did that all by yourself." She placed another punch to his lip. "Thirdly, if we're so pathetic why're we kicking you and your team's ass?" Now Tyler was backed into a corner. "And finally, their not my friends... Their my family. Connor. He's all yours. Try not to kill him." Conner didn't say anything but the happy look on his face made Tyler whimper a bit. Connor hit him as lightly as he could, but the black eye was still as dark as his t-shirt. Tyler sat down and started to cry. He already had a bleeding nose from before, but now Artemis and Conner had added the black eye, a bruised cheek and a split lip. It was nothing compared to what he had done to Artemis, but the team still felt satisfied.

_"Thanks guys! I owe you one."_ Artemis said over the link. M'gann pulled her into a tight hug.

_"Like you said! We're family. Your my earth sister!"_ They both grinned. Then Artemis suddenly slapped her forehead.

_"Crap! Dick's still stuck in a locker!"_

_"I'll go find him! What's his combo?"_ Robin smiled his I-know-someting-you-don't smile.

_"5-36-12."_ Robin disappeared into the shadows. _"One other thing. What's_ Batman_ going to say when he hears we beat up civilians?_" She didn't want her friends to get into trouble for her.

_"I don't think he's the one you need to worry about. You haven't been in class for almost an hour. What's your teacher gonna say?" _Roy chuckled thinking of all the times his teachers chewed him out for playing hookie. Artemis cursed and turned to go when Wally grabbed her arm.

_"One more thing!_ Yo! Crying football ass. Apologize now." Tyler snapped his head up, looking terrified of the team.

"I-I-I'm sorry! I'll never bother you again I swear!"

"Good. Because if you do we will show that tape to the principal and I have a suspicion that he won't be to happy about what your forcing the team to do." Wally turned back to Artemis. _"We'll always have your back! Just like I know you'll always have mine- I mean _we"ll_ know you'll always have _our_ backs..." _His cheeks turned as red as his hair.

"Oh don't get mushy on me Baywatch! See you back at the cave!" She turned and ran back toward her class room.

* * *

So this came from an idea that came to me from reading the reviews! That's why suggestions are great! So thanks to candi711 for the idea! Thanks for reading!


End file.
